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8
Ethics, Self- Interest, and the Public Good
7 The News & Observer
( hereinafter “ N& O”)
Oct 31, 2003, modified
October 23, 2005
Agriculture Commissioner Meg Scott Phipps, after admitting in court to an illegal
campaign fund- raising conspiracy, was convicted, a News and Observer staff
writer, Amy Gardner, wrote as follows: “ There was one bright note to Meg Scott
Phipps’ conviction Thursday: It was a rarity in the annals of North Carolina poli-tics.
No statewide officeholder has been convicted of committing a crime while in
office, according to political experts contacted after the verdict.”
Several of such experts quoted are here this afternoon, and here is how
they explained their conclusion to Ms. Gardner: long- time UNC Professor and
distinguished Director of the Institute of Government John Sanders said: “ Trad-ing
the exercise of one’s official authority for money, whether it’s for electoral
or personal profit, is about as bad as it gets in a position like that. We have
tended to elect people of sufficient honesty and good behavior that they don’t
get into that kind of trouble.” Ferrel Guillory, highly- respected journalist and
now, happy for us, Director of UNC’s Program on Southern Politics, Media and
Public Life, said “ the structure of government and the state’s ‘ Protestant recti-tude’
have insulated it from wrongdoing.” He explained: “ The governor of North
Carolina is weak: He had no veto power until 1997; nine other statewide elected
officials control huge agencies, including public education, agriculture, the state
treasury, and the State Bureau of Investigation; and lawmakers control hundreds
of appointments to influential boards and commissions. That structure diffuses
power and allows independent agencies to monitor one another. We’ve not
been immune from partisanship, racial divides, more power in the hands of the
wealthy than in the poor. We’re not different from America from that standpoint,
but the political and civic culture has made the political soil inhospitable to out-and-
out corruption. If anything, Phipps’ misdeeds and conviction will improve
the chances that North Carolina politicians will continue to behave. It is really
sad. It’s hurtful to the state’s body politic to have something like this happen,
particularly with a member of a historic family. But it is more of an aberration
than a pattern.” 7

8
Ethics, Self- Interest, and the Public Good
7 The News & Observer
( hereinafter “ N& O”)
Oct 31, 2003, modified
October 23, 2005
Agriculture Commissioner Meg Scott Phipps, after admitting in court to an illegal
campaign fund- raising conspiracy, was convicted, a News and Observer staff
writer, Amy Gardner, wrote as follows: “ There was one bright note to Meg Scott
Phipps’ conviction Thursday: It was a rarity in the annals of North Carolina poli-tics.
No statewide officeholder has been convicted of committing a crime while in
office, according to political experts contacted after the verdict.”
Several of such experts quoted are here this afternoon, and here is how
they explained their conclusion to Ms. Gardner: long- time UNC Professor and
distinguished Director of the Institute of Government John Sanders said: “ Trad-ing
the exercise of one’s official authority for money, whether it’s for electoral
or personal profit, is about as bad as it gets in a position like that. We have
tended to elect people of sufficient honesty and good behavior that they don’t
get into that kind of trouble.” Ferrel Guillory, highly- respected journalist and
now, happy for us, Director of UNC’s Program on Southern Politics, Media and
Public Life, said “ the structure of government and the state’s ‘ Protestant recti-tude’
have insulated it from wrongdoing.” He explained: “ The governor of North
Carolina is weak: He had no veto power until 1997; nine other statewide elected
officials control huge agencies, including public education, agriculture, the state
treasury, and the State Bureau of Investigation; and lawmakers control hundreds
of appointments to influential boards and commissions. That structure diffuses
power and allows independent agencies to monitor one another. We’ve not
been immune from partisanship, racial divides, more power in the hands of the
wealthy than in the poor. We’re not different from America from that standpoint,
but the political and civic culture has made the political soil inhospitable to out-and-
out corruption. If anything, Phipps’ misdeeds and conviction will improve
the chances that North Carolina politicians will continue to behave. It is really
sad. It’s hurtful to the state’s body politic to have something like this happen,
particularly with a member of a historic family. But it is more of an aberration
than a pattern.” 7